Best PlacesMonaca, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monaca, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Monaca ranks 9,691st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monaca
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Monaca's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monaca ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
Where Monaca ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Monaca
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monaca home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,952, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Monaca's effective rate of 1.26%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monaca
Monaca's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Monaca.
Who works in Monaca, and how
Work in Monaca centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Monaca
Monaca has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Monaca and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Monaca, month by month
Monaca sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 62° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 85° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Monaca
Pittsburgh International sits about 13 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Monaca
Schools across Monaca average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Todd Lane El SchA− · 60% proficient
- Margaret Ross El SchA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hopewell JhsB · 45% proficient
- Central Valley MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Valley HsA+ · 83% proficient
- Hopewell ShsA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monaca school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monaca measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Monaca against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Monaca
Is Monaca a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monaca ranks 9,691st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and biking, and lowest on a weak job market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monaca expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,666. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $83,952 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Monaca safe?
Yes, Monaca is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
Compare Monaca with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monaca. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monaca represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Monaca detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monaca: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monaca: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monaca: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monaca: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monaca detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.